Rangers acquire Bell from Reds for Mateo

CINCINNATI {AP} Rob Bell, one of the Cincinnati Reds' promising young starters, was traded to the pitching-poor Texas Rangers on Friday for outfielder Ruben Mateo and another prospect.

Bell will go into the Rangers' starting rotation, which ranks last in the American League with a 6.60 ERA. The Rangers plan to start him next Tuesday against Anaheim.

The Rangers have scored 355 runs, third-most in the AL, with a lineup featuring Alex Rodriguez, but their pitching staff has given up 377 earned runs, most in the majors.

"It was just a matter of trying to get some arms," Rangers manager Jerry Narron said. "Bell has a good arm and a bright future."

The Reds made the trade on the same day they activated Ken Griffey Jr. off the disabled list and designated Deion Sanders for assignment.

In Bell, the Rangers get a 24-year-old pitcher who jumped from Double-A to the majors last season and went 7-8 with a 5.00 ERA in 26 starts. He also gave up a team-high 32 homers in 140 1-3 innings.

Bell was 0-5 with a 5.48 ERA in nine starts around a stint in Triple-A this season. He has been hurt by homers again this year, giving up nine in 44 1-3 innings.

Bell was stunned when general manager Jim Bowden called him Friday to tell him he'd been traded.

"It was beyond anything I expected," Bell said. "At the same time, I'm pretty happy about it. It's an opportunity to right my ship a little bit somewhere else. Maybe a change of scenery will help. Maybe there will be a little bit more stability there."

It was a surprise that the Reds would trade away one of the things they need most  a young starting pitcher.

"Jim had just been saying to me a week ago how Chris Reitsma and myself were the future of this team, and we'd be the No. 1s and 2s (in the rotation) for a long time," Bell said. "That's just the way the game is."

Besides Mateo, the Reds got infielder Edwin Encarnacion, 18, projected to play second base or third. He was assigned to Class A Dayton.

Bowden has tried for years to get Mateo, 23, who will play for Triple-A Louisville. He hit .248 with one homer and 13 RBIs in 40 games for Texas this season.

"He has a tremendous amount of talent," Bowden said. "It's very hard to get guys like that. I've tried to get Mateo for a long time, ever since Doug Melvin took over as general manager there. I've made a lot of offers, and a lot of key players have been turned down year after year."

Mateo broke a bone in his upper leg on June 2 last year while lunging to try to beat out a ground ball. He had a rod inserted to help the bone heal and missed the rest of the season.

Bowden said Mateo hasn't completely recovered from the injury.

"In another year, we think he'll be 100 percent," Bowden said.

Mateo has been through a series of injuries during his career. He's been rated as one of the Rangers' top prospects, but has hit only .265 in 124 games over the last three years.

"I don't think it was a matter of work ethic or attitude with Ruben," Narron said. "He's been injured a lot and the expectations placed on him were very high. Everyone expected him to be Juan Gonzalez and Sammy Sosa, and that's not going to happen."

Bowden also likes Encarnacion, who hit .306 in 45 games for Class A Savannah this season after batting .311 in the Gulf Coast League last year.

"It's hard to get everyday position players," Bowden said. "You hate to trade pitching when that's your biggest need, but we had the opportunity to get two players that we think can be everyday players. That's tough to do today.

"If at some point you're stuck with too many at one position, maybe you trade for pitching  maybe better pitching than what you just traded to get him."